We hope there’s someone out there who is a match and Alara gets the help she so urgently needs

We hope there’s someone out there who is a match and Alara gets the help she so urgently needs

21 October 2015

PEOPLE in Downpatrick are being asked to help a six year-old girl in her battle with cancer.

Alara Basturk — who is battling acute lymphoblastic leukaemia — is currently at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children and her family is appealing for people to register to be a potential blood stem cell donor.

Alara was diagnosed three years ago and went into remission after being treated with chemotherapy. Sadly, she suffered a relapse in August and her parents have been told she now needs a bone marrow donation to survive.

This Saturday afternoon, the Downpatrick Boxing Academy, located at the Ballydugan Road industrial estate, will be the venue for people to come along and take part in a swab test to see if they are a suitable bone marrow match for Alara.

The young girl’s aunt Ann Graham, who lives in Downpatrick, hopes people will come forward to see if they are suitable donors.

“Thousands of people have already registered on line to help Alara, who has recently started a fresh round of chemotherapy,” she explained. “Alara remains ill in hospital and we really hope a donor can be found.

“Support for our appeal has been phenomenal and I hope local people will also get involved, either by signing up to the bone marrow register or coming along to the Downpatrick Boxing Academy this Saturday at 3pm.”

Ann said Lara’s parents and the entire family circle are determined to find someone with a matching tissue-type who can donate some of their blood stem cells to her. She said the six year-old, who has three younger brothers, was doing well until her relapse.

She continued: “All of the family have been tested but none of us are a match for Alara. We hope and pray that there is someone out there who is and that she will get the help she so urgently needs to help make her well again. I hope local people will support this weekend’s event and that others will go on line to sign up.”

Ann explained Alara’s mum is Irish and her father Turkish, and the family are looking for white, Middle Eastern and Turkish people between the ages of 17-55 to come forward and register.

“Sadly, none of Alara’s three brothers are matches but we are not giving up hope. People who come forward to provide a swab test this Saturday will have their samples sent off for analysis and hopefully we will find a match.

“Alara’s family has strong links with Downpatrick. Her grandparents lived here for a while and she has aunts and cousins living locally as well. Alara is in urgent need of help and we hope there is someone out there who is a match and, more importantly, that they have signed, the register and provided a swab for analysis.”

With only 60 per cent of those in need of a blood stem cell donation finding a donor with a perfectly matching tissue-type, Alara’s family are appealing for more people to register as potential donors to increase the chances of finding a matching donor for Alara and everyone else seeking a donor.

Ann added: “We live in hope there is a donor for Alara out there somewhere. She urgently needs a donor and I would encourage as many people as possible to register on line to become bone marrow donors. The process is simple and straightforward and involves them sending off a spittle sample for analysis.

“The more donors are on the register, the greater the chance of Alara and many, many others like her getting the urgent help they so desperately need.”

The Downpatrick Boxing Academy will be open from 3pm this Saturday for people wishing to provide swab samples for analysis.